Gas supports have previously been utilized for many years to support a glass sheet such as a heated strip as it is conveyed from a forming station to an annealing lehr for annealing or a discrete sheet as it is conveyed subsequent to annealing for further processing such as bending, tempering or bending and tempering etc. Since there is no direct engagement with the glass with gas supports, better optical quality and greater mechanical strength is possible as comapred with glass sheets supported by rolls during hot conveyance. Gas supports have also previously included both supply and exhaust openings so that the pressurized gas supplied to support the glass sheet can be exhausted in order to prevent a gas pressure buildup below the supported glass sheet. In the past, the supply and exhaust openings have conventionally been constructed as a matrix of round openings interspersed with each other in a generally uniform pattern along the entire extent of the glass sheet support.